Please introduce yourself a little to our audience, tell us about yourself.
My name is Anna Mocikat and I’m the author of the Tales of the Shadow City series, Behind Blue Eyes and the MUC series.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
I’m currently working on Behind Blue Eyes 2. The ones who read the first book would like to have the sequel tomorrow, so I work as fast as I can.
I’m aiming at a publishing date in early 2021.
Besides, I’m working on a Cyberpunk short story anthology, which will contain one of my short stories as well as the work of 14 other indie cyberpunk authors. I’m very excited about this project!
Your latest book is Behind Blue Eyes, tell me about this book and why you were moved to write it?
Behind Blue Eyes is clearly my best work so far and contains all my experiences and skills I acquired as a professional writer for over two decades. Needless to say, that this book is very dear to me and the overwhelmingly positive response from readers as reviewers so far makes me very happy.
Behind Blue Eyes is set in a dystopian future. In 2095 society has gotten rid of everything that made human life miserable in earlier times and has become a utopia. It is so perfect that it needs killer cyborgs to hunt down everyone who disagrees with it…
Readers call Behind Blue Eyes a modern version of 1984, which makes me particularly happy as George Orwell has been a great influence on my work.
What was your favorite part of writing Behind Blue Eyes?
I love writing action scenes and Behind Blue Eyes has plenty of them. One of my favorite scenes is when Nephilim, the main character, storms a hideout of armed to the teeth thugs to save her friend. I will not say what happens next to not spoil the fun for the ones who haven’t read it yet, but one thing is clear: if the Guardian Angels, the elite cyborg troop Nephilim is part of, come for you, nothing in the world will save you.
When writing a sequel, what do you do to keep your story fresh for both yourself and the readers?
I don’t really write sequels, all my books are part of the same story. And I have developed this story in advance and know exactly how it will end before I start writing the first book. Shadow City is set up to be a trilogy and I will write the third and final part next, once I finished BBE2. Behind Blue Eyes is designed to be a trilogy that opens up into a much bigger story. It’s a little bit like the Star Wars prequel Ep. 1-3 that leads into the two other trilogies, with the difference that I write the beginning of the story first (and minus Jar Jar Bings ).
Is there an over arching theme between books or is each going to be a stand alone?
I only write series. Behind Blue Eyes is my third one. But I really would like to write a standalone story sometimes.
What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
There’s so much, the structure, the characters, the dialogues… Writing isn’t easy. I am a firm believer in writing rules. There are rules which are universal and apply to every story; plus, there are certain techniques on how to develop characters, write dialogues or action scenes that can be learned and practiced. I often see authors discussing breaking writing rules and to have the freedom to write however they want. Yes. But in my opinion, one needs to know the rules very well to be able to break them.
What were the key challenges you faced while writing your last book?
The last book I wrote was Dark City, the second book in the Tales of the Shadow City trilogy. I can’t say that I faced any challenges in writing this book. It was pure joy to me, especially since there have been a couple of years between the first and the second book.
What other authors influenced your writing style the most?
As I said earlier, I’m a big admirer of George Orwell. I also love Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Aldous Huxley and Stanislaw Lem. I think my work is very much inspired by the great classics of dystopia and sci-fi.
How can your fans learn more about what you are up to, about you and your work?
I invite everyone who likes to follow me on social media. I’m on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
- www.twitter.com/anna_mocikat
- www.facebook.com/amocikat
- www.instagram.com/annamocikat
- www.annamocikat.com
Don’t be shy, say hi!